Ambaji Temple Timings 2026: Darshan Hours, Gabbar Hill, Bhadarvi Poonam Fair Dates and How to Reach
Last verified: September 2026. The Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust publishes the day’s darshan and aarti times on ambajitemple.in; they change with the season and are extended for Navratri and the Bhadarvi Poonam fair. Treat the times below as typical.
Ambaji is Gujarat’s biggest Shakti Peeth and, for three weeks every September, its biggest traffic jam. Over 25 lakh people walk in for the Bhadarvi Poonam fair — many of them barefoot from Ahmedabad, 180 km away — to invite the goddess home for Navratri. The rest of the year it’s a calm hill-edge temple you can do in a morning. This guide covers both: the everyday schedule and the fair.
Ambaji Temple Timings
| Session | Typical time |
|---|---|
| Morning darshan | 7:00 AM – 11:30 AM |
| Midday closure (Rajbhog) | 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM |
| Afternoon darshan | 12:30 PM – 4:30 PM |
| Evening closure | 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM |
| Evening darshan | 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM |
| Morning aarti | Around 7:30 AM |
| Evening aarti | Around 7:00 PM |
Summer and winter timings differ by about 30 minutes each way. On Purnima (full moon) days and through Navratri, the temple opens earlier and closes later, and the trust posts the special schedule a week ahead.
What You’re Seeing
There is no idol at Ambaji. The sanctum holds the Visa Shree Yantra — a gold-plated marble yantra with 51 letters, worshipped with eyes closed by the priests and never photographed. What looks like an idol from the hall is the yantra dressed and adorned so that it takes the goddess’s form. It’s one of the few temples where being told “there’s nothing to see” is the whole point.
Darshan Rules
- Free entry; no VIP or paid queue on ordinary days. Senior citizens and the differently-abled have a separate line.
- No phones, cameras or bags inside. Lockers outside the main gate.
- Footwear at the stands on the approach.
- Modest dress; traditional wear is the norm during Navratri.
- Prasad: the temple’s own Mohanthal, sold at the counters inside and online; it’s the thing to carry home.
Gabbar Hill
Gabbar, 4 km from the temple, is where the goddess is believed to have first been seated and where an oil lamp is kept burning in a niche facing the main temple — visible from town at night.
| Event | Detail |
|---|---|
| Steps | 999 from the base |
| Ropeway | Runs roughly 8 AM – 8 PM; short queue on weekdays, long on weekends and Purnima |
| Time needed | 1.5–2 hours including the parikrama |
| 51 Shakti Peeth Parikrama | A 3 km walkway around the hill with replicas of all 51 Shakti Peeth shrines — worth the full circuit |
The Gabbar light and sound show was suspended in 2026; check the trust’s site for whether it has resumed before planning an evening around it.
Bhadarvi Poonam Fair 2026
The 2026 fair runs from 20 to 26 September, with Bhadarvi Poonam itself on Saturday 26 September; the Banaskantha administration expects over five lakh pilgrims, most arriving on foot. What to expect:
- Padyatris (walking pilgrims) arrive continuously from Ahmedabad, Mehsana, Palanpur and beyond; the highways have free-food camps every kilometre.
- Darshan runs almost round the clock in a managed queue; waits are 2–4 hours.
- A maha-aarti at Gabbar on the Purnima night, cultural programmes, and a fairground.
- Hotels in Ambaji and Danta are gone months ahead; day-trip from Palanpur (60 km) or Abu Road (25 km) instead.
- Vehicles are stopped at the outskirts; expect a 2–3 km walk in.
If you want the fair, come for it deliberately. If you want a quiet darshan, avoid the last ten days of September entirely.
Navratri
Nine nights of garba on the temple ground, bhavai performances, and the town lit end to end. The temple’s special timings for those nights are announced by the trust; darshan typically runs 6 AM to midnight.
Nearby
- Koteshwar (8 km) — a Shiva temple at the source of the Saraswati, a natural spring; peaceful.
- Kumbhariya Jain Temples (2 km) — 11th–12th-century marble temples on the Dilwara model, almost empty.
- Mount Abu (45 km) — Dilwara, Nakki Lake; the natural overnight pairing.
- Kamakshi Temple (near Ambaji) — a modern replica of the Kanchipuram temple.
How to Reach
- Air: Ahmedabad, 180 km, 3.5–4 hours; Udaipur 170 km.
- Rail: Abu Road (Rajasthan), 25 km, on the Delhi–Ahmedabad main line; Palanpur, 60 km. Taxis and shared jeeps outside both.
- Road: Ahmedabad 180 km via Mehsana and Palanpur, 3.5–4 hours. GSRTC buses every hour from Ahmedabad and Palanpur, extra services in September.
Where to Stay
The trust runs large dharamshalas and guest houses within walking distance — cheapest and closest, book on the trust’s site. Private hotels line the approach road. For more comfort, Mount Abu is 45 km.
Frequently Asked Questions
Typically 7–11:30 AM, 12:30–4:30 PM and 6:30–9 PM, with seasonal shifts. The trust posts the exact daily schedule.
No. The sanctum holds the Visa Shree Yantra, adorned to take the goddess’s form.
20–26 September 2026, with Poonam on Saturday 26 September.
No paid queue on normal days; separate lines for seniors and the differently-abled.
Abu Road, 25 km.
About 180 km, 3.5–4 hours by road. Verified against the Devasthan Trust’s published information and Gujarat Tourism’s fair dates, September 2026. Spotted a change? Email info@themandiryatra.com.
Editor at The Mandir Yatra. Covers the Himalayan and northern yatras (Kedarnath, Vaishno Devi, Govardhan, Narmada Parikrama) and the southern and eastern temples (Tirupati, Kanyakumari, Srikalahasti, Draksharamam, Jagannath Puri, Kamakhya). Every guide is checked against the temple trust’s official schedule before publishing and carries a last-verified date.
